Complications
by Mardia
Summary: Ron goes out on his first date. And it's not with Hermione...much to her displeasure. RonHermione and RonLuna. Chapter Six uploaded.
1. Chapter One: He Said WHAT?

Title: Complications

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Romance/Humor

Pairings: Ron/Luna--no, you're not seeing things--and Ron/Hermione

Summary: Ron goes out on his first date. And it's not with Hermione...much to her displeasure. R/H. MAJOR spoliers for OotP. Don't read this if you haven't read the 5th book yet.

Disclaimer: Oh, I wish...All the characters belong to J.K Rowling and I'm not making any money off this, so don't sue.

A/N: Okay, yes, this is a Ron's-being-paired-up-with-someone-who-isn't-Hermione fic. Don't hit the Back button. This is not a cheap plot device designed to put Harry and Hermione together by getting Ron out of the way. I would gouge my eyes out with a blunt spoon before writing one of those fics. Seriously, I would. No, this is more of a Ron's-seeing-someone-else-and-getting-Hermione-really-jealous kind of fic. Hee. 

_"Life is like a game in which God shuffles the cards, the devil deals them, and we have to play the trumps." ~Yugoslavian proverb_

Flabbergasted.

That was what Ron was. It was a word his mother used occasionally that Ron had never completely understood until this precise moment. 

Completely...and _utterly_...flabbergasted.

"Well?" Luna was leaning into his face and Ron was leaning back as far as he could without seeming rude. Any minute now he was going to fall backward.

"Er..." Ron gulped, panicking.

"Do you want to go?" Luna peered at him, cocking her head to the side.

"Okay."

He could have kicked himself. Okay? _Okay? _He had said _okay_ to going out on a date with Luna "Loony" Lovegood? 

"Really?" Luna asked, now tilting her head to the other side. 

_Say no! No, no, no, not in a million bloody years!_

But of course, his mouth, being apparently not connected to his brain, said--

"Sure."

Luna beamed. "See you at Hogsmeade then." She walked off dreamily. 

Ron blinked. What had he just done?

_Made a date with Loony Lovegood, that's what you've done._

~*~

Harry was trimming the twigs on his Firebolt when Ron walked into the dormitory, looking shell-shocked.

"Ron?" Harry asked as Ron sank onto his bed without a word. "Ron, you all right?"

"No," Ron moaned, burying his face in the pillows. 

"What happened?" Harry asked curiously. "Is it your family?"

"No." Ron sat up, his face one of abject misery. "Harry, I'm going out on a date."

"Oh," Harry said, taken aback. "Well, that--that's horrible." After a pause, he ventured to ask, "_Why_ is it so horrible?"

Ron had flopped back onto his bed and was staring up at the ceiling. "Because I'm going out with Luna Lovegood."

Harry stared at his friend. "Excuse me?" he managed after a stunned pause.

"You heard me."

Harry scratched his head. "Ron, I like Luna and all, don't get me wrong, but...why would you go out with her?" 

"I don't know," Ron said, sitting up to face Harry. "She just asked me out of the blue, and next thing I know, I'm saying yes!" 

"Wait a minute. Luna Lovegood asked you out on a date...and you actually said yes," Harry stated incredulously. Ron nodded, clearly miserable. "D'you fancy her?" Harry asked curiously.

Ron had turned so red he now resembled a human tomato. "No!"

"It's a reasonable question," Harry said, grinning. "When you agree to go out with a girl, it usually means--"

"Well, it doesn't now," Ron said firmly. 

"She fancies you though," Harry pointed out.

Ron blanched. "No, she doesn't."

Harry's grin grew wider. "Ron, when a girl asks you out, it usually means she fancies you."

"It does?" Ron asked pitifully.

Harry was trying his best not to laugh. "Afraid so," he said as seriously as possible.

"Bugger." Ron ran his fingers through his hair. "So what do I do?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe...go?"

"Go?" Ron stared at Harry in disbelief. "On the _date_?"

"No, to the moon," Harry said, deadpan. "Of course on the date!" he exclaimed.

Ron looked at him hopefully. "Maybe we can say I--" he paused, thinking up an excuse, "_died_."

Harry burst out laughing at this. "Ron," he said between chuckles, "-you're _in the same school_.

She'll see you in the corridors, in the Great Hall--"

"We could say I was my ghost! Her dad's the editor of the _Quibbler_! She'll believe anything!"

Harry was now holding his side, he was laughing so hard. Ron glared at him. "It's not funny," Ron muttered sullenly.

"Oh, yes it is," Harry chortled. He removed his glasses and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Ron, mate, you're stuck."

"Thanks for your help," Ron said, glaring at his friend. "You've been _so _supportive in my time of need."

Harry just laughed harder.

~*~

"Remind me again, Harry," Ron said, looking at his friend, "--why didn't we drop Potions this year?"

Harry didn't look up from his Potions essay. "Because we want to become Aurors." He finally looked up blearily. "And because we're masochistic prats who enjoy being tortured and punished."

"Oh," Ron said. "Two and a half rolls of parchment," he moaned. "_Two and a half rolls of parchment_."

"I heard you the first time," Harry shot back. "Now shut it. I want to get this done before Quidditch practice tomorrow."

"Sure thing, O Mighty Quidditch Captain."

"Oh, sod off."

They were interrupted by the sound of giggles. Ron looked up to find Parvati and Lavender looking in his direction and giggling madly. He groaned. "What is with those two?" he asked.

Harry shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe they fancy you too," he suggested slyly.

Ron glowered. "Shut up."

"My God, Ron," Harry said, smirking, " the girls are all over you lately, huh?"

"I thought I told you to _shut up_," Ron hissed. Harry just smiled.

"So, have you told Hermione?" Harry asked casually.

Ron's quill froze. Tell Hermione? Tell _Hermione_? Hermione, the girl he..._fancied_...that he was going out on a date with a girl who wasn't her? Was Harry starting to suspect--Ron looked at his friend suspiciously. 

Had Harry _really_ figured out--but no. Harry was just as clueless as he had always been, something for which Ron was very grateful.

The giggles, which had been in the background, suddenly got a lot closer. Ron looked up to find Lavender standing near him. "Hi, Ron," she said, smiling in a strange way.

"Uh, hello, Lavender," Ron replied. 

"So, um, is it true?" Lavender asked. To Ron's relief, she wasn't giggling, but the pressure of holding it all in was turning her face pink.

"Is what true?" Ron asked, confused. Harry's eyes flickered back and forth between Ron and Lavender. 

"That you're--" here Lavender burst into giggles, "--that you're going out with--Loony Lovegood?"

"Her name's _Luna_," Ron snapped without thinking. "And, yeah, we're going to Hogsmeade. You got a problem with that?"

Lavender shook her head, obviously alarmed at Ron's darkening expression. "No, no, of course not."

"Good," Ron said and turned back to his essay. When Lavender didn't move, Ron looked up and said shortly, "We're done here."

"Oh--right!" Lavender exclaimed, flushing. "Bye."

"Good-_bye_," Ron snapped. 

"Gee, Ron, I don't think you were rude enough," Ginny remarked, walking up towards them. 

"Shut it," Ron muttered. "Nosy, interfering, snobbish--"

"And you just realized Lavender's qualities _now_?" Ginny asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Ron, but weren't you just complaining about going out with Luna a few minutes ago?" Harry asked. 

"Yeah, but that's different," Ron said. "Just who does she think she is, calling Luna 'Loony'?"

Ginny stared at her brother. "Ron, practically everyone in the school calls Luna 'Loony'. What are you going to do, hex everyone who calls her that?"

Ron folded his arms. "If I feel like it. It's just not fair. Luna's a nice girl, even if she's--"

"Completely off her rocker?" Harry suggested.

Ron shot a look at Harry. "I was _going_ to say a bit unusual," he finished.

"What's a bit unusual?" Hermione ask as she came over to them, carrying a large and heavy book. As usual. Ron gulped. Now he just wanted to hide.

"Luna," Ginny replied. 

"Oh," Hermione said as she shifted her book. 

"Hermione, agree with me here," Harry said. "Isn't Luna completely off her rocker?"

Hermione glared at Harry. "Harry, why would you say that?"

Ron winced and closed his eyes, waiting for the ax to fall. 

"Because," Harry said, grinning, "she's asked Ron out on a date."

If Ron had been expecting Hermione to throw a fit or burst out crying, he would have been sorely disappointed. Hermione just blinked, looked at Ron, and then blinked once more. 

"Ron?" she said in a rather high voice, pointing at Ron's head. "_This _Ron?"

"How many Rons do you know?" Ginny asked. "Yes, it's that Ron, and yes, he's going out with Luna Lovegood." It was strange, but he could have sworn that Ginny had given him a dirty look.

"Oh," Hermione said, blinking. "Well, that's...great."

"Really?" Ron asked, surprised.

"Yes," Hermione said, still looking stunned. "I--I think it's fantastic, actually."

"You--you do?" Ron asked, feeling a bit let down. He wasn't expecting her to explode, but--a _little_ disappointment would have been nice. "You think it's a good idea, then."

"I think it's a _great_ idea," Hermione told him, smiling brightly. And if the smile seemed a bit fixed, well, no one noticed...well, except for Ginny, who noticed everything.

"Oh," Ron said. "Okay, then. Good. Good, I'm--I'm glad you approve." Wait...what? He _wasn't_ glad she approved. Ron didn't want her _approval_, he wanted her to scream in horror, drop her book on the floor in shock--_something_. Anything.

But he wasn't going to get--something. 

_'If you can't have what you want, want what you can have.'_

If he couldn't have--something--he could have Luna.

Oh, wonderful.

"I'm--going to go to bed," Ron said after a pause. "Bit tired." He stood up, gathering his quill, ink, and parchment rolls. "Night."

"Night, Ron," Harry said. "See you in a bit." 

"Night," Ginny echoed.

Hermione didn't look at him as she muttered, "Goodnight, Ron." It could have been Ron's imagination--or wishful thinking--but he couldn't help remarking that Hermione's voice sounded, well, a bit odd. 

But then again, Ron thought bitterly as he headed up his stairs, it was probably just his imagination.

Or wishful thinking.

                                                                              _TBC..._


	2. Chapter Two: The Actual Date

_"There is something about the unexpected that moves us. As if the whole of existence is paid for in some way, except for that one moment, which is free." ~Rose Tremain_

Ron took a deep breath as he stood waiting in front of the Great Hall. He looked at his watch again. 

_The least she could do is be on time,_ Ron grumbled to himself, checking the corridors for a glimpse of Luna. Harry, walking out of the Great Hall with Hermione, Neville and Ginny, mouthed, "_Good luck!" _Ron nodded back. Neville shot him a sympathetic glance, while Ginny and Hermione ignored him completely. 

"Weasel!" Ron groaned as he heard Malfoy's voice. "When's the wedding?" Malfoy had nearly been beside himself with glee when he'd heard about Ron's date.

"Ron!" Luna appeared beside him, breathless. "Sorry I'm late."

"It's all right," Ron mumbled, hoping she hadn't heard Malfoy. "Ready to go?"

Luna nodded, smiling at him. "Sure."

Seeing how happy Luna seemed to be, Ron felt some of his embarrassment and irritation trickle away. After all, it was kind of cool that she liked him enough to ask him out.

~*~

"So where d'you want to go?" Ron asked, trying to remember the advice everyone had given him. Neville had been the only one he could ask at first, as Seamus and Dean were too busy laughing their heads off and Harry had been busy writing a letter to Lupin.

_"Act like a gentleman," Neville had told him. "Girls like that...I think. After all, I've never been on a real date...I did go out with Ginny, though," he added brightly. "So that counts..."_

"How about the Hog's Head?" Luna suggested. 

Ron stopped in his tracks, staring at her. "Uh, Luna, I don't think--"

"Just for old times' sake?" Luna looked at him beseechingly. "Please?"

Ron could just hear what Hermione would say to that idea...

_"The Hog's Head! Ron, don't you dare even think about it! We only went there so we could form the D.A and avoid Umbridge...prefects aren't supposed to be in such a dodgy area without a really good reason..."_

"Oh, what the hell," Ron said suddenly. "Why not?"

And instead of scolding him for swearing, like Hermione would have done, Luna just grinned and said, "Let's go."

~*~

"D'you think Millicent Bulstrode's ever thought of shaving her mustache?" Luna asked innocently. 

Ron held back a smile. "Don't think so," he said gravely.

"That's what I thought when I told her that she should consider it..."

Ron choked and spit out his butterbeer all over the table. He looked at the mess in horror.

_"Don't do anything disgusting, Ron," Dean told him. "Whatever you do, don't do anything gross or weird. They'll never talk to you again and tell every single girl they know that you're the most disgusting bloke on the planet."_

"I'm so sorry," Ron mumbled as he frantically mopped everything up. "Don't know what came over me--"

"Oh, it's okay," Luna said cheerfully. "I've done the same thing myself...only I spit it all over my nanny...ex-nanny really."

Ron looked at her. "So you're not freaked out?" he asked suspiciously.

"Why would I be?"

"Right," Ron said slowly. "Right. Okay, what happened after you suggested it to her?"

"Well, after the teachers pulled her off me, I had to go to the hospital wing, then I got a week's worth of detention from Snape."

"You should have been put in Gryffindor," Ron declared, grinning. "It takes serious guts to do that."

~*~

"So let me get this straight," Ron said, staring at Luna in shock. "You're a fan of the Chudley Cannons too?"

"Well, I definitely sympathize with the poor team," Luna said. "After all, it can't be nice, being cursed to lose for all eternity."

"Excuse me?"

"Didn't you know?" Luna asked, blinking at him. "Why, I thought it was common knowledge...Daddy even published a full account of it in the _Quibbler_..."

Ron didn't have the heart to tell her he hadn't even heard of the _Quibbler_ until he'd met her. "Er...must have missed that issue," he lied quickly, then went on. "So, what happened?"

"Well," Luna began, "it all started when the captain of the Cannons attracted the attentions of a wealthy young woman who lived in the town where the Cannons practiced. The problem was, however..."

~*~

"Wow," Ron said when Luna had finished. "And here I thought it was just a case of bad luck."

"Nope," Luna said breezily. "They're just cursed to lose. Forever."

"Well, that's not fair," he grumbled. "It's not their fault that stupid wizard cursed them ages ago. You think they know?"

"They should," Luna said. "Daddy sent seven copies of that issue to the team, completely free. If they didn't read it, it's not our fault."

"True," Ron agreed. "Want another butterbeer?"

Luna shook her head. "No, thanks."

"Okay," Ron said, getting out of his chair. "I'll go pay our bill--"

"Why don't we split it?" Luna suggested. 

_"Ron," Seamus warned, chuckling, "trust me on this: pay for _everything_. Girls never want to pay for anything. They might say they do, but believe me, they never mean it." He shook his head. "I had to learn that the hard way with Lavender."_

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why?" he asked suspiciously. If this was because he was poor or something...

Luna shrugged. "It isn't the 19th century. I can pay if I want. Equality for women and all that." He wasn't an expert on girls or anything, (in fact, quite the opposite) but as far as Ron could tell, Luna seemed to mean what she was saying. And years of being poor had taught him to notice when people felt sorry for him. She didn't.

Ron nodded, smiling. "Okay."

~*~

"So how was your trip to Sweden?" Ron asked as they walked around Hogsmeade.

Luna shrugged. "Bit of a disappointment, really. No Crumple-Horned Snorkacks to be found...we were hoping that if we found any, there would have to be revisions to _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_." She heaved a sigh. "Oh well."

"Maybe," Ron said as seriously as possible, given that they were discussing Crumple-Horned Snorkacks, "--they're in hiding or something. There are a lot of magical animals that avoid humans--"

Luna looked up at him, her over-large eyes even wider in shock. "You--you actually believe me?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Most people just laugh when I mention things like Crumple-Horned Snorkacks. Or worse, they seem to agree, but in this annoyingly condescending way. Like, 'Oh, it's just Loony going off on her mad theories. Might as well humor her to get her off our backs.' " Ron didn't miss the bitter undercurrent in her voice. "But what you just said right now...you acted like you meant it. Like you didn't think I was crazy for believing in things like Crumple-Horned Snorkacks."

"I don't think you're crazy to believe in that stuff," Ron told her, and was surprised to realize that he actually meant that. "I mean, some of the stuff you say is definitely out of the normal, accepted ways of thinking, but I don't mind that."

"Why not?" 

He only had to think about it for a minute. "Hanging around with Harry for the past six years has taught me that if you think something's impossible or that it can't happen, the chances are that it _is_ possible or it _will_ happen."

Luna smiled up at him. Encouraged, Ron continued. "I don't know if Crumple-Horned Snorkacks exist. But I don't know that they _don't_ exist either. So I guess I'll just keep an open mind about it all."

Luna's smile grew wider. "Thanks," she said softly.

Ron smiled back at her. "You're welcome."

Of course, seeing as things were going so well, Malfoy just had to interrupt.

"Well, well," Malfoy said, a smirk spreading across his pale, pointed, malevolent face. "How disgustingly sweet." He looked Luna up and down with an expression of disdain. "God, Weasley, you're _that_ desperate? Going out with _Loony Lovegood_? Well, of course, as the Mudblood's been shagging Potter, I suppose you have to take it where you can get it--"

Ron's wand was pointed between Malfoy's pale eyes. "Say--that--again," he ordered through gritted teeth. "I dare you. Say it again."

Malfoy's mouth was slightly open in shock. "Go on," Ron continued, his eyes glittering. "Say it."

He felt Luna tugging on his arm. "Please, Ron, don't. It's not worth it. Just don't."

Ron took a long, shaky breath and the red haze faded from his eyes. But as he lowered his arm, Ron's hand was still gripping the wand tightly. 

"You," Ron said slowly, "--are very lucky she's here."

Malfoy tossed his head back in a gesture of arrogance, but his eyes flickered nervously to Ron's wand. "Whatever."

"Go," Ron ordered. Malfoy slinked off.

Ron took a deep, calming breath and turned to Luna, embarrassed. "Sorry 'bout that,' he muttered, staring at the ground.

"Don't be," Luna said quietly.

There was an awkward pause. The relaxed atmosphere of before had vanished. 

"Maybe we should get back," Luna suggested finally. "It's getting late."

"Yeah," Ron said, feeling somehow as if a door was starting to close, and he didn't know how to stop it.

~*~

They were walking across the grounds on the way back in silence. 

"Why did you say yes?"

Ron looked at Luna. "What?"

Luna looked up at him, her misty eyes wary and distant. Fearful. Of what, Ron wasn't sure. "When I asked you to come. Why did you say yes? Was--was it because you felt sorry for me?"

For the first time, Ron was really able to relate to Luna Lovegood. To find something they both had in common. 

They both hated to be pitied.

"No," Ron objected, and realized at that moment that it was true. "I didn't and still don't feel sorry for you."

Luna's eyes were boring into him. "Why did you say yes?" she repeated.

Ron took a deep breath. "I don't know," he replied honestly. "When you asked me, I just said yes without really knowing why I did."

"Oh," Luna said, looking down at the ground.

"But then we came here, and...I had a really good time," Ron told her, trying to get her to meet his gaze. "You like the Cannons, you're willing to split the bill, and it's really easy to talk to you. Not to mention the fact that you had the nerve to tell Bulstrode she should shave her mustache," he added, trying to get a laugh out of her. It worked, because she started to giggle. She looked up at him, smiling widely. 

"I like you," she told him. 

Ron could feel his ears turning red. "Well--I--uh--I like you too."

_"Girls," Harry had warned, "--will never say anything straight out. They'll go round and round in circles and play mind games until you're about ready to go bloody mad."_

Ron's forehead furrowed. Luna wasn't doing any of the things he'd been warned about. She'd paid her half of the bill, hadn't minded him being disgusting, and most importantly, had _actually told him straight out how she felt_.

"Ron? Is everything all right?"

Ron quickly smiled at her. "Yeah, everything's fine. It's just--I'm not quite sure what to do now. You say you like me--"

"I do like you," Luna interjected.

"Right." Ron was still having a bit of trouble accepting this fact. A girl actually _liked_ him and was admitting it to his face. Reality had just turned on its head. "And I like spending time with you...does this mean we're a couple?" he asked nervously. 

"Do you want to be?" Luna asked him seriously.

Ron's eyes grew huge. "Well--er--I--that is to say--"

"Ron, we don't have to put a label on it. We can just hang out, like we did today," Luna told him gently. "No pressure."

"No pressure," Ron repeated slowly. No pressure...it meant no guessing, no mind games, no emergency conferences with the other guys...no wishing there was a guidebook to the inner workings of girls' minds...

He grinned. "Okay."

Luna smiled back. "Good."

~*~

Ron was humming a song by the Weird Sisters as he walked over to the Fat Lady's portrait. 

"You look happy," she observed, raising an eyebrow at the wide smile on his face

"Had a good day," Ron replied, still smiling. 

"Password?" 

"Birdseed," Ron told her.

Ron stepped through the portrait hole just in time to witness Harry and Hermione having a huge, flaming row.

                                                                        _TBC..._


	3. Chapter Three: Fighting and Reactions

A/N: Read the author's note at the end of this chapter. It clears up some questions that some reviewers had.

~*~

"A good friend who points our mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure." ~Buddha

"Harry, it's just not healthy--"

"It's not of your bloody business how I handle things--"

"Of course it's my business! And you have to talk about it sometime--"

Ron just stared at the two of them. Harry and Hermione never fought. It just didn't happen. Ever. Well, that one time in third year over the Firebolt, but that didn't count, because Harry didn't actually fight with Hermione, he had just stopped talking to her. And yes, Harry had been a bit out of control last year, what with all the yelling and snapping at everyone. But both he and Hermione had known Harry wasn't really mad at them, but at the situation he was in. Besides, he'd gotten better since then--and making Hermione angry was _Ron's_ job, not Harry's.

With that in mind, Ron shouted, "OY! What's going on here?"

Harry and Hermione broke off to look at him. Hermione looked sad and frustrated, while Harry just looked livid. 

"What's going on?" Ron repeated. 

Harry let out a snort. "Don't ask me. Ask Hermione here, seeing as she knows absolutely _everything_ there is to know about everybody." Ron's stomach clenched at the tone of Harry's voice. Harry sounded--there was just no other way to put it--downright _nasty_.

Hermione flinched slightly. "We--we were just having a discussion."

Ron raised an eyebrow at this. Did Hermione honestly expect him to buy that? What, did he look as stupid as Crabbe suddenly? "Right," Ron said, folding his arms. "And that _discussion_ is why the two of you were screaming so loudly that all of Hogwarts could practically hear you."

"According to the resident psychologist," Harry snarled, jerking his head at Hermione, " I am not 'handling my grief properly'."

Ron looked at Hermione incredulously. She _hadn't_. After all of Ron's warnings, Hermione wouldn't bring up Sirius in front of Harry. She wouldn't.

But she obviously had. 

"This is just great," Ron muttered, starting to feel irritated. "I had a great time today in Hogsmeade, and then I've got to come back and deal with all this!" His good mood of eariler had evaporated completely. 

Harry and Hermione stared at him. Harry looked surprised, while Hermione looked shocked and hurt. 

"You had a great time?" Harry said, sounding interested. "Really?"

"Yeah," Ron said. "I did--" He caught sight of Hermione's face, and wished he hadn't.

Ron fought his feelings down with another surge of irritation. It wasn't fair that he felt guilty--he _shouldn't_ feel guilty for having a good time--there were no ties, no commitment--and wasn't she still writing to Victor buggering Krum? 

She had absolutely no right to look at him with those hurt eyes, like he'd done something wrong. Last he'd checked, having a good time was not considered a cardinal sin.

Hermione probably hadn't felt guilty when she'd gone to the Yule Ball with Krum. She'd laughed and danced and had a simply _wonderful_ time. So why couldn't Ron do the same?

He shouldn't feel guilty. He _didn't_ feel guilty.

Harry shot Hermione a dark look. "I'm going upstairs." He stomped up the stairs, making no pretense at hiding his anger.

Ron sighed and looked at Hermione. "Couldn't you have just left things alone?"

"Don't try and pretend that any of this is my fault, Ron Weasley!" Hermione's voice was getting louder. "Harry hasn't said a word about what happened, and it's about time he said _something_--"

"He has," Ron cut in, fighting the urge to lose control and get just as emotional as she was. _Somebody_ had to stay sane in all this mess. "He talks to Lupin. You should see the letters he writes to him. They're practically novels."

"That's not enough--"

"It _is_ enough. Lupin knew Sirius better than any of us. Honestly, Hermione, you can't decide how Harry deals with Sirius's death.  I know you meant well and all, but--just leave it alone, Hermione. Please."

She gave him an injured look and folded her arms. Ron knew Hermione wasn't going to admit he was right, but it didn't matter. He _was_ right.

"I'm going up there to talk to him," he muttered, running his fingers through his hair. He turned and was about halfway up the stairs when he heard her speak.

"Did--did you really have a good time today? With Luna?"

Ron turned to look at her. For a moment he considered lying to her and saying he'd had a horrible time. Except he hadn't. And there was no reason to pretend otherwise.

No reason at all. 

"Yeah. I did."

"Oh." Hermione said, nodding. "Good. I'm--I'm glad."

"Thanks," he said, turned, and ran the rest of the way upstairs. 

He still refused to feel guilty. 

~*~

The hangings around Harry's bed were drawn shut when Ron came in. "Harry?" he called softly. Ron had a sudden urge to go and fetch Ginny. For some reason, Ginny seemed to be the only person out of all of them who could deal with Harry when he was in one of his difficult moods.

Harry drew the hangings back and glared at Ron. "What, are you going to lecture me too?"

"No," Ron said, wishing he was practicing Quidditch, or playing chess, or doing anything but having a discussion that he _really_ didn't want to have. "I wanted to see if you were all right."

"I'm fine," Harry growled. "And it'd be great if some people would stay out of my bloody business."

"Hey, don't yell at me," Ron objected. "I didn't tell Hermione to talk to you about it."

"But you agree with her, don't you?"

"Actually, no." Ron shrugged, trying to buy time to piece together what he wanted to say. He wasn't good with words, like other people. "I can't tell you how you're supposed to deal with--with what happened to Sirius. No one can. And if--writing to Lupin helps you--then good. But--that doesn't mean you can't talk to us--if you want. Because we'd listen, if--if you wanted to talk or anything. But if you don't, then--that's okay, too."

_Nice, Ron, _he thought to himself. _Could you _be _anymore bloody inarticulate?_

Harry's face softened, and his voice was less defensive when he said, "Okay."

Ron let out a breath in relief. "Okay, then."

"I'm--I'm not--I'm not trying to shut you two out, or anything," Harry said quickly in a low voice. "It's just--easier talking to Remus, that's all."

"It's okay, Harry, really," Ron told him. "I already knew that. And Hermione'll get it too. Just give her some time."

Harry nodded, and they didn't say anything for a few moments.

Ron said softly, "She's just trying to help, you know."

Harry was lying back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. He nodded. "I know." He looked over at Ron. "I should go apologize, shouldn't I?"

Ron nodded. "Yeah, that might help."

Harry nodded again. "I will."

"Okay." Ron paused, waiting. Harry didn't move. "You can go anytime, you know."

Harry grinned as he looked over at Ron. "Later. After I hear about your date with Luna."

Ron blushed. "Oh. That."

"Yeah, that." Harry sat up. "What happened?"

Ron went over and sat on his own bed. "It was--nice." He considered. "Really nice," he amended.

Harry smiled, raising an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah," Ron said. "It was fun." His face darkened. "Until Malfoy showed up."

Harry winced. "Oooh. What'd he do?"

"Said some filthy stuff, as usual. I was _this close _to cursing him within an inch of his life--"

"And you should've," Harry interrupted. 

"--but Luna stopped me," Ron concluded, then smiled. "She said that she likes me."

"What, to your face?" Harry said, clearly surprised.

Ron laughed. "Yeah. Looked me right in the eye and everything. Said it straight out too. There's--there's no beating around the bush with her, is there?"

Harry shook his head. "Nah." He looked vaguely regretful. "Wish more girls did that. Just told you what they really felt straight out, y'know?"

"Yeah," Ron said softly, thinking about Hermione. "Wish they did."

~*~

**~STOP!!!! READ THIS BEFORE REVIEWING OR CLICKING THE BACK BUTTON!!!!!!!!~**

A/N: Ahem. Now that I've gotten your attention, I need to clear some things up. First off, I am a staunch supporter of Ron/Hermione. Have been for a very long time. I usually write Harry/Ginny, but I love both ships. I have never written H/H, and I won't ever write it either. That's a big no-no. This fic, basically, came out of the fact that we don't see too much of Jealous!Hermione. We've gotten plenty of Jealous!Ron, both in OotP and in fanon. And I was getting pretty sick of the idea that Hermione has to sit around and wait for Ron to make the first move. So, why shouldn't Ron make the first move...with someone else? 

And I'm sorry to everyone who's been enjoying the Ron/Luna in this fic. I'm glad that I made it likeable for people. But one of my two major ships for me has always been Ron/Hermione. I just can't see it any other way. 

And for Tweek's Panda, I'm glad you like the fic. I'm _really_ flattered that you put it on your favorite stories list. But R/H, for me, is the pairing with the most proof behind it. This is where the series is most likely to go. So, no, I'm not really a Ron/Luna fan. Not in a _yeah-this-is-where-JK-is-going _fan. More of a _yeah-they'd-be-cute-together-for-ten-minutes _kind of fan.

And that's all I'm gonna say for now.


	4. Chapter Four: And The Ball Just Keeps Ro...

"To see what is in front of one's nose requires a constant struggle." ~George Orwell.

The next day, Harry and Hermione were quiet but cordial to each other. During breakfast Harry and Ron talked mostly about Quidditch, while Hermione read a book.

Ginny sat down next to Ron, buttering her toast. "Hello."

" 'Lo," Ron said through a mouthful of porridge. "Ready for Quidditch practice today?"

"When am I ever _not_ ready for Quidditch practice?" Ginny retorted. She looked over at Hermione. "All right, Hermione?"

"Hmm?" Hermione murmured, without looking up from her book. 

"Hermione, are you ever going to pull your nose out of that book?" Ron asked, joking. 

"No," Hermione said shortly. She turned a page and continued to keep reading. 

Ron's eyebrows went up and he shot a quick look at Harry. 

Harry looked at Hermione for a moment, and then turned to Ron and whispered in his ear, "Isn't she supposed to be ticked off at me?"

Ron shrugged, and at that moment spotted Luna coming over to the Gryffindor table. As she approached, Ron smiled at her. "Hello, Luna."

"Hello, Ron," she said in her usual dreamy voice. "Harry, Ginny, Hermione."

"Hi, Luna," Ginny said quietly, glancing quickly over at Hermione.

"Hey, Luna," Harry said with a grin. "How's everything going?"

"All right," Luna said. "Er, Ron? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," Ron said, and stood up. 

For a second, he thought he saw Hermione's eyes peering up at him over the book. Ginny seemed to be examining her plate intently. Harry grinned at him and gave him a thumbs-up.

They walked off a little ways and Luna said quietly, "I wanted to know if you wanted to take a walk down to the lake after classes on Monday. Ginny mentioned you've got Quidditch practice today, so—"

"Yeah," Ron said, smiling down at her. "I'd like that."

"Oh. Good. Good. So—we're going then," Luna smiled back at him.

"All right, but next time I'm going to have to get around to asking you out," Ron added. Since when had he been so confident around girls? 

But that was the nice thing about Luna. She didn't make him nervous. 

A corner of Luna's mouth curled up. "You do that, then."

"Ron!" Harry called from the table. "We've got to get to practice."

Ron nodded at him, then turned to Luna. "I've got to go."

She nodded. "See you tomorrow, then…at six o' clock?"

"Okay," Ron said, grinning. "See you later."

"Bye."

Ron rejoined Harry, Hermione and Ginny, grinning broadly. "Got a date again for tomorrow," he told them.

Harry thumped him on the back. "Not bad," he approved. 

"That's, that's great, Ron," Ginny enthused, glancing over at Hermione again.

Slowly Hermione lifted her eyes to meet Ron's. "We'd all better get to the pitch before you're late."

"Yeah," Harry said with a sigh. "My co-captain'll kill me if I'm late, says it sets a bad example."

"Hey, why aren't you as fanatical as Katie is?" Ron asked.

Harry grinned. "Katie's so much of a slave driver that she makes up for me."

~*~

"So," Seamus whispered over Katie, the other co-captain, "how the date go? I was going to ask you last night, but you were already asleep."

Ron smiled. "It was good."

"Did you take my advice?"

Ron smirked. "Actually, we split the bill. Her idea, not mine."

Seamus turned to him, his eyes wide. "She _offered_ to split the bill?"

"Yeah."

"Bugger," Seamus muttered. "Why can't Lavender be like that? So, what did you do?"

"Well, first we went to the Hog's Head—"

"_What_?"

"Her idea," Ron clarified. "Talked, drank some butterbeer—oh, and tell Dean he's wrong, because Luna didn't mind when I spit my butterbeer out all over the table."

"Excuse me?" Seamus said, round-eyed.

"Luna had just told me how she had once suggested to Bulstrode that she should shave her mustache. When I apologized for the butterbeer, she said not to worry about it, that she did the same thing to her ex-nanny."

"She said _what_ to Bulstrode?" 

"Luna told Bulstrode that she should consider shaving her mustache," Ron repeated. 

Seamus shook his head. "Where do I find a girl like that?" he muttered. "Hey, Ron, if things don't work out between you two, would you mind if I had a go?"

"Yes, actually, I _would _mind," Ron told him. 

"What _I_ mind," Katie said, clearly exasperated, "is you two chattering on while the rest of us are trying to learn these new plays! Now, if you two have finished discussing Weasley's love life, perhaps we could get back to Quidditch."

Ron and Seamus both flushed a brilliant shade of red while the rest of the team grinned at them. Well, except for Ginny, who was giving Ron an odd look.

~*~

Ron and Ginny finished packing up the balls. "That's the last of them," Ron said, panting and sweaty from wrestling the Bludgers. "We should get to the locker rooms."

Ginny nodded. "So, you really had a good time with Luna, huh?" Ginny asked as they began heading towards the locker rooms.

Ron nodded. "Yeah."

"Are you, um, are you two dating now?" For some reason, Ginny seemed to be having trouble looking him in the eye. 

"Not quite sure, really," Ron said with a laugh. "Luna said we didn't have to label it, that we could just hang out."

Ginny nodded again. "Sounds like a plan." She paused and then asked quietly, "Have you, um, have you kissed her?"

Ron stopped to stare at Ginny in surprise. "Why all the curiosity about my love life all of a sudden?"

"Oh, like you weren't butting in when it came to me and Michael," Ginny retorted. She looked rather embarrassed, however, as she added, "She's one of my best friends, besides Neville, and you're my brother, so—"

"Is it weird for you?" Ron asked. He wouldn't mind if Ginny started to date Harry—in fact he rather approved of the idea—but that did not mean that Ginny would have the same outlook on a similar situation.

"It's just surprising," Ginny said. "I mean…I never figured Luna to be the type of girl you'd fancy."

"And just who is 'my type'?" Ron asked.

"Girls like—like Fleur Delacour—"

"She was part-Veela!" Ron objected. Fred and George still occasionally teased him about that.

"or—or Padma Patil—"

"We had a horrible time at the Yule Ball!"

"Or—" Ginny shut her mouth quickly, as if she was about to blurt out something she shouldn't.

"Or who?" Ron asked.

"Nothing," Ginny said lightly, then gave him a grin. "Or maybe Eloise Midgen…"

Ron looked at his sister in exasperation. "Eloise Midgen? Please."

"She's a very nice girl," Ginny objected. "And besides, she can't help it about her nose."

Ron snorted. "You sound just like Hermione, honestly."

For some reason, this caused Ginny to fall silent. After a long moment, Ginny asked in a quiet tone, "D'you think she's pretty?"

"Who? Eloise?"

"No. Luna. Do you think she's attractive? Physically?"

Ron thought about it. Strange that he had never considered it before. It was true that Luna's eyes stuck out a bit, but they were a rather nice shade of gray. Misty. Her nose was right in the middle of her forehead, where it belonged and her hair, while not a shining blonde like Fleur's, or dark and straight like Padma's, or brown and wildly curling like—moving _on_—it did look rather nice when it was being blown about by the wind. Her face was alright, her complexion clear, and her voice—Ron liked her voice. It was calm, soothing.

"Yeah, I guess," he said finally. "She's—she's nice. I like her."

Ginny nodded. "Good. I'm glad." She stopped in front of the door to the girls' locker room. "Sorry, Ron, but you can't come in."

"Damn," Ron said in mock-regret. "See you later."


	5. Chapter Five: Harry FINALLY Gets A Clue

A/N: I know things are progressing really slowly, but that's the way things have to be for a while. Ron's still a boy, which automatically means he's clueless. And Harry finally _gets _a clue. Took him long enough. 

_"All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as being self-evident." (Arthur Schopenhauer)_

On the whole, Ron reflected, things were going rather nicely for him right now. 

For starters, they'd won that match against Hufflepuff. Ginny had done an excellent job as Chaser, scoring practically half the goals, Ron hadn't let Hufflepuff score _once_, a new record for him, and Harry had managed to pull off the Wronski Feint without ploughing straight into the ground. And he'd caught the Snitch. 

Second, Ron was getting the hang of balancing fun with his duties as Prefect. Just yesterday, he'd given detention to two Gryffindor boys who'd gotten into a fight over exactly who owned a rather risqué picture of Kathryn MacDonald, the singer. Ron had also confiscated the picture and turned it in to McGonagall. (Hermione had been nearby, and it wouldn't have done to sneak the picture into his robes. Pity, that.)

Third, Malfoy had been sulking around the castle as usual, but hadn't said a word to Ron in a while. Which was a good thing for both the git and for Ron, as Ron had a feeling it wouldn't be seemly for one prefect to try to beat another prefect into a pulp. Not to mention that McGonagall would go apoplectic. 

Ron's grades were going nicely, as well. For the first time in, well, _ever_, he actually knew what was going on in Charms. Not to mention that Potions wasn't going half badly either. Snape hadn't been able to find one bad thing to say about his latest Growing Potion, which was a first. Ron and Harry relished the irate look on the Professor's face as he tried to think of a nasty remark, couldn't, and then stomped off to bully Neville.

And then there was Luna. 

Ron smiled a bit as he thought of her. Their picnic had gone really well, and they'd taken to hanging out together a lot. Of course, Ron had a busy schedule, what with prefect meeting and Quidditch, and so did Luna, what with all the work the teachers piled on in fifth year. Ron shuddered as he thought of the O.W.Ls. Was he ever glad to get that nightmare over with. Of course, now he had the N.E.W.T.S to look forward to in seventh year. Oh, what fun that would be.

But back to Luna…

He was losing count of the number of times that Parvati and Lavender had come up to him, asking whether Ron and Luna were dating or not. 

_"We're not dating," Ron said firmly._

_Parvati tutted in a way that reminded Ron strongly of Hermione. She  must have been rubbing off on Parvati. "Well, either you're leading her on, or you're dating."_

_"I'm not leading her on," Ron objected._

_"Then you're dating," Lavender said calmly, as if she was an expert on the subject. "Or you _could_ be just friends…"_

_Ron considered. "I—we aren't _just_ friends, but…"_

"Then you're dating," Lavender told him. Her eyes gleamed with curiosity. "Have you kissed her yet?"

_"What?" Ron stared down at the two of them. "That's—that's none of your bloody business!"_

_"No need to swear, Ron," Parvati said in a superior tone. "We were just asking."_

Ron frowned and ruffled his hair. _Was_ he dating Luna? He wouldn't call what they did dating…they didn't kiss, they didn't even hold hands…but he wouldn't call it friendship either. 

So what were they?

He'd thought about asking Harry, but Harry was really busy coming up with plays for practice and Occulmency with Dumbledore. Ron didn't feel too comfortable asking Ginny, since she was his baby sister and Luna's friend. And as for Hermione…

Ron paled at the thought of asking Hermione. No. No, no, no, no. Absolutely not. There was no way he was going to discuss this with her of all people. That was just—insane. Of all the worst ideas ever thought of, this was right at the top of the heap. 

"Ron?"

Ron turned to see Luna walking quickly towards him, carrying her bookbag. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Ron said, forcing himself to sound normal. Things with Luna were good as they were. Why did he have to over-analyze everything? He hated when Hermione did that, so why couldn't he just leave a good thing alone?

"Hey, how did Transfiguration go?" he asked, remembering that Luna had commented on it earlier.

"Oh, it went quite well," Luna said. "I got the theory pretty quickly…"

~*~

Later on in the dormitory, Ron couldn't help but notice that Dean was casting him these nervous sideways glances as they got ready for bed.  Finally Ron said, "Dean? What is it?"

Dean flashed him a nervous smile. "Oh, nothing."

"Dean, you've been staring at Ron all night like you want to tell him something," Harry commented, not looking up from his letter. "I don't think it's nothing."

"Well…y'see…the thing is…"

"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph," Seamus muttered, looking thoroughly exasperated. "Ron, Dean wants to date Ginny and he's asking for your approval so you don't hex him into next Tuesday." He looked at Dean. "There. See how easy that was?"

Dean glared at Seamus. "Shut _up_!" he hissed.

"Let me see if I've got this straight," Ron said slowly, his eyebrows nearly meeting his hairline. "You want to date _my_ baby _sister_?"

"You can't really blame him, Ron," Seamus said helpfully. "There are a lot of guys who'd want to date her. I don't know if you've noticed, but…your sister's gorgeous." He looked at Harry, who had stopped writing his letter and was listening. "Isn't she, Harry?"

Ron looked over at Harry, curious as to his response. Did Harry actually think Ginny was, in Seamus's words, 'gorgeous'?

Harry's eyes grew huge as he realized that everyone was now waiting for his answer. "Well, I—I haven't really thought about it, to tell you the truth."

"Oh, come off it, Harry," Seamus scoffed. "Haven't you been spending practically ever summer with the Weasleys? And in all this time, you never once noticed that Ginny's got a very nice set of—"

"_Watch_ it!" Ron ordered, throwing a pillow at Seamus and hitting him in the face. "That's my little sister you're talking about, you wanker," he said, glaring.

"Sorry, mate, but it's the truth," Seamus said, shrugging. He looked at Harry, incredulous. "Are you really telling me that you _never_ noticed? Not even _once_?"

Ron and Dean waited for Harry's answer.

Harry was blushing by this point. "She's—she's Ron's sister!" he spluttered.

Ron wondered what that had to do with anything. He wouldn't mind if Harry decided to fancy his sister, and he didn't think anyone else in the family would either. Fred and George would tease them a lot though… 

Seamus obviously agreed with Ron, as he said, echoing Ron's thoughts, "So? What's that got to do with anything? If I'd been in your position mate, I would have asked her out ages ago."

Dean cleared his throat. "So, anyway, Ron? Is it all right if I go out with Ginny?"

"Hmm?" Ron asked, distracted. He wrinkled his nose. "Oh, all right, I guess. But no funny business, and if I hear you've hurt her in any way, I'll sick Fred and George's prototypes from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes on you."

Dean grinned, clearly relieved. "Great!" he said, falling back onto his bed. "Let me tell you Ron, you have no idea how nervous I was about this. I was terrified that Creevey bloke would take her out before I got a chance to—"

"Creevey?" Ron and Seamus said in unison.

"That little fifth year who's always scurrying around taking pictures?" Seamus asked. 

"_Colin Creevey_ fancies my little sister?" Ron asked. 

Dean nodded, sitting up. "Yeah, him, and I think there are others…hang on, let me see if I remember the members of her fan club…well, _other_ members…"

"There are _more_?" Ron croaked. "Since when is Ginny so popular with the boys?"

"Since everyone realized how attractive she is," Seamus said, exasperated. "Lord, Ron, haven't you been _listening_ to me?"

"Right then, I've got their names," Dean said. "You want to hear them?"

Ron had a feeling he was going to regret this, but… "Sure."

"Anthony Goldstein, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and isn't there something going on with Neville?" Dean asked. 

"No," Ron said, glad to know he was on sure footing with this one. "George asked Ginny about that over the summer and she insisted that they were just friends."

Dean shrugged. "Less competition for me," he said. "Let me think…I'm pretty sure I've seen Ernie MacMillan goggling at her when he thinks no one's looking, not too subtle about it though, really needs to work on that…"

"Bet you could give him a few pointers, eh, Dean?" Seamus said, grinning slyly. 

Dean grinned in an embarrassed way but didn't deny it. 

"Oh, _sick_," Ron said, disgusted. Didn't they realize they were talking about his little sister?

Harry, by this point, had abandoned his letter and was listening, and quite avidly, in Ron's opinion. 

"I know I'm forgetting someone," Dean muttered, frowning. He snapped his fingers. "Got it. How could I have forgotten? Blaise Zambini."

Ron blinked, sure he'd heard Dean wrong. "Did you just—_Blaise Zambini_?" he croaked. 

Harry looked just as shocked. "The Blaise Zambini in Slytherin? _That_ Blaise Zambini? Dean, are you sure?"

Dean nodded, and Seamus whistled. 

"Huh," Seamus said. "Have to hand it to the bloke…he's got good taste, even if he is in Slytherin."

"I don't believe this," Ron muttered. "A Slytherin fancies _Ginny_? But she's a Weasley! She's in Gryffindor!"

"And she's also turned into quite a looker," Seamus said. "Can't really blame him, Ron."

"This is just not right," Ron muttered, falling back onto his bed. "What next, _Malfoy_?" 

Seamus chortled at that. "At the rate things are going, that might be an actual possibility."

"Oh God," Ron moaned. "Oh _God_."

"Calm down, Ron," Dean said. "Malfoy doesn't fancy Ginny. He hates the lot of you too much for putting his dad in jail."

"Well, that's something," Ron said. He chanced a glance at Harry. "Can you believe this?"

Harry shook his head. "I can't believe _any_ of this," he told Ron.

Seamus snorted. "That's because you were too busy mooning over Cho Chang to realize what half the school already has, that Ron's baby sister has turned into one of the best-looking girls at Hogwarts."

"Half the school?" Ron and Harry echoed at the same time. 

"He's exaggerating," Dean said. "Ron, half the school does not want to have their way with Ginny—"

Ron clapped his hand over his ears. "Cut it out!" he moaned pitifully. "I've heard enough to last me a lifetime, thank you very much. What are you gits trying to do, scar me for life?"

Seamus howled at that, while Dean and Harry grinned at him. Ron had a disturbing thought. What if Dean wanted to—?

"And one more thing, Thomas," Ron said darkly, wagging his finger at Dean, "if I hear any rumors about you trying to 'have your way' with Ginny, I'll chop you into bits and feed you to the giant squid myself. Or I'll just hand you over to Fred and George." He stared at his index finger in surprise. Since when had he turned into his mum?

But to get back to the point, Dean looked quite frankly terrified by these threats. Which wasn't a bad thing, in Ron's opinion. The more afraid Dean was of pissing off Ron, the less likely he was to act like anything less than a perfect gentleman around Ginny.

"This is insane," Harry muttered, shaking his head slightly. "Absolutely mad."

"What's so insane about it?" Dean asked.

Seamus butted in, as he consistently had throughout the night. "Hey now, just because you've been blind all this time, Harry—"

"I am not blind," Harry objected, sounding a bit annoyed. "I just don't see her in that way. Is it so odd that I don't fancy her the way Dean does?"

"No," Seamus said. "It's just odd that you didn't even notice her at _all_ when you spend so much time around her…she's on the team with us, for crying out loud…"

Harry shook his head and picked up his letter. "I'm out of here. This is just too weird…" Harry walked out of the room, shaking his head.

"What's with him?" Seamus wondered. 

Ron shrugged and got up, deciding to follow Harry. He was bored, and not exactly in the mood to listen to Seamus go on about how gorgeous Ginny had turned out.

~*~

"Ron? What are you doing up?" 

Ron turned to see Hermione sitting on a couch by the fire, staring at him. Her hair was even wilder than usual, which was something Ron didn't think was possible.

"What are _you_ doing up?" Ron whispered back. 

She shrugged. "Couldn't sleep. You?"

Ron grinned. "I was going to go after Harry. Did you see him?"

"Yes," Hermione said. "He just walked out of here really fast. Looked like he had something on his mind…is anything wrong?"

Ron grinned and impulsively sat down next to her on the couch. "Harry finally figured out that my sister's a girl. It only took him five years," Ron said, laughing, "but better late than never, right?"

Hermione giggled at that. A part of Ron wondered why it was that when Parvati or Lavender giggled, it drove him barking mad, but when Hermione or Luna did, he didn't mind. In fact, he thought it was positively cute.

He turned that thought over in his mind. Maybe it was because Parvati and Lavender giggled so much that it was grating. Yeah, that was it.

Hermione sighed. "It's a good thing Ginny gave up on him. Harry's my friend, but he can be an idiot sometimes."

"You really think so?"

"What, about Harry being an idiot?"

"No, about Ginny giving up on him."

Hermione looked at him, slightly surprised. "You don't?"

Ron shrugged, putting his feet up on the table. "I dunno. I guess I wouldn't mind if they started dating. It'd be better than her going out with prats I don't even know. Not that Dean's a prat…" he added, half to himself.

"Oh, so Dean talked to you?" Hermione asked lightly.

"Yeah, he—wait." Ron stared at her, incredulous. "You _knew_?"

Hermione shrugged. "Well, yes. Ginny didn't think Dean would actually ask for your permission, but I knew there was something going on. Ginny told me."

"At least Dean's better than that Corner prat. Can't think what that guy sees in Cho Chang, anyway," Ron muttered. 

"She's pretty," Hermione said. "Most guys don't seem to care about anything but that."

"Wait a minute," Ron objected. "Not _all_ guys. Not _me_ at least."

Hermione looked at him in that superior way of hers that he hated. "Oh, really? What about Fleur Delacour?"

"One word, Hermione: _Lockhart_."

Hermione promptly turned red and swatted him on the arm. Ron rubbed it in mock-outrage. "The future Head Girl abusing her fellow prefect and star of the Quidditch team? Have you no shame?"

"Oh, be quiet," Hermione ordered, but she was smiling.

Ron thought suddenly just what Luna would think if she saw the two of them here together like this. It wasn't like they were doing anything wrong, really, but Ron did realize how it looked: the two of them, sitting in the dark next to each other, whispering. 

Oh, sod it all, anyway. He wasn't doing anything wrong, and it had been a while since things had been so normal with Hermione. It was like things had gone back to the way they'd used to be. 

Ron was so wrapped up in his reasoning that he failed to realize Hermione was trying to talk to him until she poked him in the head. 

"Hey!"

"You weren't _listening_. And keep it down, or you'll wake everyone up."

Unable to think of a response, Ron stuck his tongue out at her. 

"Oh, that's really mature, Ron," Hermione said very sarcastically. "Anyway," her voice softened, "do you really mean that? About not dating Cho?"

"Course," Ron said promptly. "I mean, she's nice and all, but she's a bit of a whiner. Not that she doesn't have a fair bit to complain about, what with Cedric and all, but come on—crying because Ginny got the Snitch before she did? Now, I may not be an expert on girls—"

"Definitely not."

Ron ignored this, "—but I know not all girls are like that. I mean, Ginny's not like that, Luna's not like that," Hermione stiffened slightly beside him, "and you're not like that, so I don't know what Cho's deal is. I'm just not into girls who cry at the drop of a hat. Besides, Harry's my best friend. I'm not going to go after the girl he used to fancy. That's just not on."

"And of course, there's Luna," Hermione said.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "There's Luna."

There was a pause. Hermione was staring at her hands as if they had suddenly developed some disgusting fungus.

They both stared at the fire. It was—soothing, just sitting there with Hermione. Not fighting about anything—although that was kind of fun too. Kind of like when Ron was around Luna, only not at all—Ron realized he was making no sense, not even to himself, and decided to stop that train of thought.

"Do you…do you want to just sit here for a while?" Ron asked quietly. 

"Okay," Hermione said.

So they sat their in the near-darkness, and just watched the fire burn. 


	6. Chapter Six: Going Out On A Limb

_"Why not go out on a limb? Isn't that where the fruit is?" Frank Scully._

__

"Luna," Ron said, struggling hard not to laugh, "I really don't think Dai Llewellyn's death was a conspiracy by the Ministry and his jealous opponents. That's—that's just not possible."

"Why not?" Luna asked, looking up at him.

Ron was thrown, and sputtered, "Everyone _knows_ he was eaten by a Chimera—"

"But what if that Chimera had been sent there on purpose?" Luna asked. "My father plans on asking that very question in the next issue of the Quibbler. He's gathered a lot of evidence."

Knowing exactly what kind of evidence the Quibbler presented, Ron wanted to say something, but he held his tongue and simply grinned. "Can't wait for that issue then."

Luna beamed at him. "Good," she said.

"So, are you coming to the next D.A meeting? Professor Lupin's going to be in charge of it now, along with Harry."

Luna smiled gently. "It'll be good for him."

"Which one?"

"Both of them, of course."

Ron grinned down at her. "Exactly what I thought," he said happily. "Besides, Snape is going to _hate _it."

* * *

Ron stared, horrified, at his essay. "This isn't _fair_."

Harry rolled his eyes and said in a monotone, "Oh, gee, Ron, Snape didn't grade your essay fairly? What a shock! It's really not like him, because he's always been _so_ nice to us Gryffindors."

Ron glared at him. "Oh, shut it." He waved his paper around in fury. "This is a masterpiece! It's got bloody_ footnotes_, for Merlin's sake!"

Hermione sat down next to him. "What are you bellowing about, Ron?" she asked. "And don't swear," she added absently.

Harry grinned. "Ron got a bad grade on his Potions essay."

"Footnotes," Ron snarled. "I had _bleedin' footnotes_." His voice rose an octave. "Footnotes, Hermione! I never have footnotes!"

"I know," Hermione said dryly. "I'm the one who who's been telling you to put them in your essays for ages, remember?"

"And look what happened!" Ron roared.

Harry and Hermione shared a look. "Ron," Harry said, "Snape's probably just in a really bad mood because Remus is coming back to Hogwarts."

"Still not fair," he muttered, then realized something. "Wait...you're calling Lupin by his first name?"

Harry shrugged. "Didn't seem like it made much sense to call him Professor Lupin anymore..." his voice trailed off. "Does he have to do that?"

Ron looked to where his sister was laughing with Dean Thomas. As they watched, Ginny curled up against Dean's side and leaned her head against her shoulder. "What?"

"I mean...it's weird," Harry insisted. "Isn't it weird, Ron?"

Ron shrugged. "Not really. It's gross, but not that weird. He's her boyfriend. They're going to snuggle. It's disgusting, but expected."

"Oh, like you don't snuggle with Luna," Hermione shot back.

"For the record, Luna and I do not _snuggle_," Ron said in a tone of superiority. "Our relationship goes beyond that." Hermione looked slightly grossed out by the thought.

"I still think it's weird," Harry muttered, stabbing his food with a fork.

Ron sighed. "Harry, she's fifteen. Mum said we're just going to have to deal with this."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "You talked to your mum about this?"

Ron glowered. "No, _she_ talked _at_ us. Stupid Charlie."

"What'd he do?" Harry asked.

Ron could feel himself blushing. Damn Ginny for not telling him how she stopped doing that. "I...er...might have mentioned something in my letter to Charlie."

"And that something was?" Hermione asked with a very superior, knowing smile. Ron blushed even harder.

"Well...Ginny's his sister too, and I thought he'd be interested to know that she had broken up with Corner," Ron said, and sighed in aggravation. "How was I supposed to know Charlie was going to send Corner a Howler?"

Harry started laughing. "Oh God, Ron," he gasped out between laughs, "tell me you're kidding." Hermione had lost the superior look and was just giggling. Ron grinned too. In retrospect, it was amusing, although he certainly hadn't thought so at the time. Back then, his knees had been shaking and he'd been desperately praying that Ginny wouldn't come after him.

"So, of course, Corner writes Ginny, asking about her psychotic brother who's just sent him a Howler and threatened to set his hoard of dragons after him, and after Mum and Dad managed to stop Ginny from chasing Charlie around with the frying pan, we had a family meeting." Ron frowned. "I don't see why, though. It wasn't like I _told_ Charlie to send a Howler or anything like that."

Harry was almost wheezing by this point. "Oy, Harry!" Seamus called out. "You all right there?"

Harry tried to speak, couldn't, and settled for waving his hand at Seamus. "I'm sorry," he gasped, "but the thought of Charlie being terrorized by your sister when he faces dragons every day..."

Ron grinned. "Clearly you've never seen Ginny when she's really ticked off. Think of my mum, only younger."

Harry chuckled. "I almost wish I'd been there," he said wistfully. "But then, I think I'd be too afraid that your sister would start to take things out on me."

* * *

"How is it going, Ron?" Professor Lupin asked as he strolled over.

Ron grinned, slightly out of breath. "Good," he said. "Wish I could practice against some real Dementors, though," he said, and roared for the fifth time, "_Expecto Patronum_!" And instead of an undefined shape, a lion burst out of Ron's wand, roaring and stamping its foot.

Ron stared, flummoxed. "That's the first time that's ever happened," he mumbled in shock.

Luna beamed at him. "Excellent, Ron."

"Yes," Lupin said, although he was frowning slightly. "Yes, that's very good..."

Ron grinned. "And it's a lion too," he said in relief. He'd been rather worried that his Patronus would turn out to be something stupid, like say, a poodle. Lions were so much cooler.

"Ginny?" Lupin called out. "Would you come here for a second?"

Ginny came over from where she was practicing with Dean. "What is it?" she asked.

"Ginny," Lupin asked, "what form does your Patronus take?"

Ginny wasted no time in replying. "A lion," she said promptly, pointing at Ron's Patronus, who was now swishing its tail and looking at them calmly. "It looked just like that too."

"Is that bad?" Luna asked.

Lupin shook his head, but he still seemed a bit perturbed. "No, no," he said. "It's not bad...just rather unusual."

"Why?" Ron said. "After all, we're related. Besides, Dad's Patronus is a lion."

"So's Bill's," Ginny added. "And Charlie's."

Lupin looked more surprised than ever. "Are you two telling me that your entire family has the same Patronus?"

Ron shrugged. "Well, I don't know about the twins...or Percy," he added. "Is that--unusual?"

"Not so much unusual," Lupin said, "as much as it is _impossible_. Ron, that's not supposed to happen." He frowned again. "If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Professor Dumbledore about this. I've never heard of so many family members sharing the same Patronus."

Ron and Ginny looked at each other and shrugged. "Fine by me," Ginny said.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, "Same here."

* * *

After the D.A meeting, Ron decided to walk with Luna back to Ravenclaw.

"Ron, I was reading the tea leaves yesterday..."

'Uh huh," Ron said, waiting to see where Luna was going with this.

"...and they were talking to me, as usual, and they asked me a very important question."

Ron grinned. "Which was?" he asked, humoring her.

"Why haven't we kissed yet?"

Ron immediately tripped over his own feet. He stood up quickly and backed away a little. "What?"

Luna looked at him, serene as always. And usually Ron found her serenity soothing or relaxing, but right now he was slightly annoyed by it. Really, Luna was absolutely _impossible_ to read. He could never tell if she was angry or upset or sad...with Hermione, at least you knew how she was feeling most of the time. It was the reasons _behind_ her feelings that were a complete mystery.

Ron mentally kicked himself. Now was not the time to think about Hermione, much less compare her to Luna. "I thought...I thought we weren't going to label it. This."

"Don't you want to kiss me?" Luna asked.

Ron's mouth hung open. "Of course I...wait. This...we're not supposed to be complicated. And...if we kiss...doesn't it make things complicated?"

"Why should it?" Luna asked.

Ron's mouth fell open again. "So...kissing doesn't complicate things?"

'Not if we don't let it," Luna reassured him, stepping closer. Ron gulped and stepped closer too.

"I—"

_You like her, so kiss her. It doesn't have to be complicated. Not unless you make it._

And so he did. And she kissed him back.

It was...nice. Terrifying, but still. Nice. Ron's legs were feeling a bit shaky, and he had absolutely no idea where to put his hands at first. But Luna's hands were on his shoulders, her lips on his, and after a while, Ron forgot to think about anything at all.

When they finally stopped, Luna gave him a slow, dreamy smile. "That was nice," she said. "You're a very good kisser, you know."

Ron let out a shaky laugh. "Actually, I didn't know that. That was...well, it—could you tell I hadn't done it before?" he asked nervously. Sure he was new at this, but that didn't mean he wanted it to _show._

"No. I haven't either."

"So...that was your—"

"Yes."

"Oh," Ron said, relieved that Luna was at the same level of experience he was. "I couldn't tell either," he reassured her.

She laughed softly and stepped back, taking his hand. "The tea leaves were right," she commented as they continued on their walk.

"Yeah," Ron agreed, frowning as a thought occurred to him. "Wait. If we're kissing, does that mean we're dating?"

"Do you want to?"****

Ron's forehead furrowed. He liked Luna, liked hanging out with her, definitely liked kissing her, and didn't want other blokes kissing her. "Yeah," he said finally. "Do you? Want to be dating, that is?"

Luna nodded. "Yes."

"All right then," Ron said, slightly stunned. "We're...dating." A slow smile spread across his face. He was a boyfriend. He had a girlfriend. As in, if he wanted to introduce Luna to anyone, he'd say, _"This is my girlfriend, Luna."****_

Ron was actually one half of a couple.

Wow.

* * *

Ron sat down slowly on his bed. "Wow," he mumbled. Really, Ron's luck was improving drastically these days. He was on the Quidditch team, things were going great with his friends, his grades were good, and he had a girlfriend and had just received his first kiss.

"What is it?" Harry asked, distracted.

"I snogged Luna," Ron told him. "Or she snogged me...whichever. We snogged. And we're dating. Officially."

Harry sat up, his eyes wide. "No way."

"Way," Ron said, grinning. Harry looked impressed at this, which just increased Ron's sense of general well-being.

"How was it?"

Ron's grin grew bigger. "Brilliant," he said. What had he been so worried about? All he'd really had to do was relax and enjoy it...Ron's grin grew rather wolfish. And he _definitely_ had enjoyed it.

"She wasn't crying, was she?" Harry asked.

"No," Ron said. "I'm not _that_ bad a kisser,' he added, giving Harry a small dig.

Harry threw a pillow at his head. "Thanks a lot," he muttered. "So...you and Luna are official. Congratulations."

"What's going on?" Seamus asked as he, Dean, and Neville walked in.

"Ron's officially off the market, that's what," Harry said. "He and Luna are going out."

"Weren't you going out before?" Neville asked.

"We were hanging out before," Ron explained. "But we're dating now."

Dean frowned. "What's the difference?"

Ron shrugged. "No idea. Ask Luna. Or Ginny. She's Luna's best friend, she'd get it."

"Wait, wait," Neville said. "You're her boyfriend, now, so..._shouldn't_ you understand what's going on in her brain?"

"Neville," Ron said wearily, "I don't know what's going on in _anybody's_ brain. Much less the female brain. Six years of being friends with Hermione and she's still a total mystery."

"True," Harry agreed, grinning. "Very true."

"So," Seamus said, looking up from a Quidditch magazine, "you've given up on Hermione, then?"

Ron choked. In as normal a voice as he could manage, "Hermione? What—I don't—Hermione?" He stole a glance at Harry, who looked mildly bewildered.

"What's Hermione got to do with anything?" Harry asked.

Seamus laughed, and Ron glared at him, silently willing the big-mouthed git to _shut up_. "Harry, mate, you really haven't noticed, have you?"

"Noticed what?"

"Noticed," Seamus said in a tone of exaggerated patience, "that our Ron here has been fancying Hermione for ages."

Ron winced, closed his eyes. He should've known this was going to come out, sooner or later.

"Ron likes Hermione?" Harry asked, sounding completely shocked. Dean and Neville had stopped their respective activities and were watching curiously. "Wait a minute," Harry said, standing up and staring at Ron. "Wait just a minute. You...like _Hermione?"_

Ron fidgeted. "Well..."

Harry's eyes became enormous and his jaw dropped. Ron was rather alarmed, as he had never seen anyone's eyes become that big. For a second, Ron had wondered if Harry could possibly be doing an impression of a house-elf, his eyes were _that _big.

"Now, mate, it isn't that big a deal," Seamus stared, trying to fix the mess he'd created. But judging from the look on Harry's face and the way his eyebrows were rushing together, Seamus's attempts weren't going to do anything. "You like Hermione," Harry said, standing up, "and you _never told me_?"

Ron, by this point, was quickly approaching a feeling commonly known as terror. A yelling Harry was bad enough, but a yelling Harry who was mad at him—it was absolutely terrifying.

Neville edged towards the door. "Maybe I should get Ginny—" he started nervously.

"Please do," Ron croaked.

"What's Ginny got to do with anything?" Dean asked, and Ron bristled at the tone before remembering that Ginny was in fact, Dean's girlfriend.

Neville gestured at Harry. "You know she's the only one who can handle Harry when he's like—_this_."

"Like what?" Harry demanded, annoyed, and Neville gulped.

Seamus approached Harry cautiously. "Maybe we should all just calm down—"

"I am calm!"

"—and just listen to what Ron has to say," Seamus finished.

And all of them stared at Ron, waiting for him to deliver the goods. Oh, bugger.

* * *

"You see, it's like this," Ron started, and had no idea of how to continue.

"Like what?" Harry grumbled. "Like you've been hiding something from me for ages?"

"I dunno," Ron mumbled. "I thought you'd be upset or whatever, and it didn't seem like such a big idea since...you know..." he trailed off uncomfortably.

"Since what?" Neville asked.

Ron sighed. "Since Hermione never felt the same way," he said quietly. It was hard admitting that out loud, but it was the truth. "So I reckoned there was really no point in ruining a good friendship over something I was bound to get over eventually."

"So you _are_ definitely over Hermione, then?" Harry asked, and Ron was relieved to see that he no longer seemed angry.

He considered. "I guess I just...took a leaf out of Ginny's book and decided to get over it. What's the point of fancying someone who's never going to feel the same way? And now there's Luna...so, yeah. I reckon I am over her." Something about that bothered Ron a little bit. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it...something about that was wrong. But he couldn't figure out what. He _was_ over Hermione, and he _was_ dating Luna.

Harry nodded. "You still should've told me, though."

"Yeah, probably," Ron agreed. "It was just...weird. By the time I'd got it all worked out, you were having such a rotten time...didn't want to burden you."

"So, everything's settled then," Dean asked. "Ron's explained everything, Harry isn't going to fly off the handle now..."

"I wasn't going to fly off the handle anyway," Harry objected.

"Yeah, sure, Harry," Dean said, not believing it. "Have to say, Ron, I thought there might be something going on." He paused. "Sure she doesn't feel the same?"

"Positive," Ron said darkly. "We drive each other insane, anyway. Half the time we're together, we're arguing."

"Half the time?" Seamus joked.

"It's for the best, anyhow," Ron concluded. "She's writing letters to Krum, I'm dating Luna...it's over."

And there it was.

"So, big Quidditch game today," Seamus commented at the Gryffindor table during breakfast on Saturday. "My bet's on Hufflepuff. Chang's game has been off for ages. What do you think, Katie?"

Katie swallowed her food and replied, "I'm for whatever team we can beat in the end."

Ron laughed, and Seamus turned to him, "Suppose you'll be supporting Ravenclaw, mate?"

"You'd be right," Ron said, spearing his sausage with the fork.

"Oh, and why's that?" Katie asked.

Ron shrugged. "My girlfriend's in Ravenclaw, what do you expect me to do?" He was rather pleased at how...natural this all seemed.

Ginny, sitting next to him, choked on her juice. "Wait, Luna's your _girlfriend_?" she asked after she'd recovered. "Since when?"

"Since a few days ago," Ron replied, then got a sinking feeling as he realized.

_Hermione. Bugger._

Afraid but not knowing why, he glanced at her. Hermione was staring firmly at her plate, and if it weren't for the stiffness of her shoulders, Ron wouldn't have guessed that she'd heard. She looked up finally, and her gaze was steady. "So, you're dating Luna. Congratulations."

Ron felt very strange. Like he had separated from his body, and was watching someone else with his face say, "Thanks," He didn't feel...quite there, somehow.

It didn't feel like it was Ron handling the queries from Lavender and Parvati. It didn't feel like him shyly asking Harry and Hermione whether it'd be all right with them if Luna sat with them during the game. It didn't feel like he was the one blushing as Parvati and Lavender agreed that he and Luna had been putting this off for too long.

But the lurch in his stomach as Hermione continued to stare at him...yeah, that felt like it belonged to him.

* * *

Ron looked around the stands. "Where is everyone?"

"Harry said he was going to be here in a minute," Hermione said.

Neville, sitting down nearby, said, "And Ginny and Dean should be here any minute. Bean?" he offered, holding out a bag of Every Flavor Beans. Ron and Hermione both shook their heads. Neville shrugged and started to eat them himself.

"Yeah, Luna should be here pretty soon," Ron commented, and wanted to kick himself, although he didn't know why. It just felt like...he shouldn't mention Luna around Hermione. Which made absolutely no sense, since it wasn't like Hermione would care...besides; she was one of his best friends.

Hermione was staring straight ahead, as she commented, "You and Luna...it's interesting."

Ron glanced at her. What exactly did that mean? "Interesting?" he echoed.

Hermione flushed a bit, but continued. "I don't know...I just thought...well, you always went for the pretty girls, the ones without a lot of depth."

"Gee, Hermione, thanks for making me feel superficial," Ron bit out.

Now Hermione was really blushing. "You know what I meant."

"No, actually, I don't," he snapped, feeling very irritated. "And where are you getting that idea anyway, from Fleur? Bloody hell, Hermione, she's half-veela. What did you expect?"

"I don't know," Hermione muttered. "But Luna's so..._different_."

Ron didn't like the way she said that. "So? Maybe that's what I like about her," he replied as calmly as possible.

"Okay," Hermione said, nodding.

Ron, for no reason, decided to elaborate. "And she's not boring, y'know? You never know what's going to come out of her mouth."

"Yes, but most of what she says is completely illogical," Hermione commented.

Ron grinned. "Maybe to you."

There was a pause in the conversation, and Ron started to wonder if it was such a good idea, talking about all this with Hermione. This was so insane...after all, Hermione was one of his best friends, so he should be able to talk to her about this kind of stuff...but he couldn't. Besides, she didn't seem interested--maybe Ron should just keep his mouth shut. Yeah. That sounded like the best plan.

Ron's nerves grew strained as he saw Luna walking towards him, along with Harry, Ginny and Dean. Oh, bugger. Hopefully everything would turn out all right—

_Of course it will_, Ron tried to assure himself. _There's absolutely no reason why Luna and Hermione can't get along. Well, except for the fact that they're polar opposites..._

Luna casually slid in next to him and took his hand in hers. "Hello, Ron, Hermione," she said easily.

"Luna," Hermione said politely. That was a relief.

Ron grinned at her. Even with the Hermione thing, he was glad to see her. "Hey," he said, and impulsively kissed her on the cheek.

"Oy!" Dean said, grinning as he and Ginny sat down in the seats above them. "Do you two need to get a room or what?"

Ron rolled his eyes. "Shouldn't I be asking you and Ginny that question? You're the ones snuggling all the time." He shook his finger at Ginny. "Better watch out, or Dean'll be receiving a Howler too..."

Ginny whacked him on the head, and then got a crafty look on her face. "Luna?"

Luna turned around. "Yes?"

Ginny gave her a syrupy-sweet smile, and that put Ron on edge. Whatever she was planning, it couldn't be good. "Since you're Ron's new girlfriend, I have a few tips for you."

Ron groaned and put his face in his hands. He knew it.

"First," Ginny said as if she wasn't putting Ron through utter hell, "whenever he starts talking about the Cannons, act as if they're the greatest team in the world, even though—"

"That's not their fault!" Ron nearly howled. "They were cursed by some stupid wizard with a grudge—"

"Even though," Ginny continued, raising her voice, "their team motto is the uninspiring 'let's just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best'."

Dean started laughing, and Ron could see Neville grinning up at him. Clearly, they were sadists. And why couldn't Dean make Ginny shut up?

"Second, never, ever bring lil' Ronniekins near a spider, big or small, as he does have a bit of a phobia about them."

Ron buried his face in his hands again.

"Third, if he ever breaks your heart, just come to me, and I'll take care of everything."

Ron's head went up immediately. "I'm not going to do anything!" he protested.

"Oh, like you didn't threaten to hand poor Dean over to the twins," Ginny shot back, but then her demeanor changed, became serious. "And Ron... the third rule works both ways, you know."

_Works both ways?—oh. _

Luna smiled up at Ginny. "Don't worry," she said, and the way she said it...Ron had trusted her before, but now, for some reason, it...it was like this was a confirmation of his trust. Like he'd done the right thing, trusting Luna.

Ginny smiled at both of them, and then cleared her throat. "The game's about to start." So everyone turned back to the pitch, and began to watch.

Because Ron was so focused on the game, and on the feel of Luna's hand within his, he didn't notice the guilty looks Ginny gave Hermione, or the way Hermione would glance at him sometimes, when he wasn't looking. And Hermione ended up giving Ron a lot of looks, because Ron wasn't looking at all.

A/N: You can find an outtake from this chapter at my livejournal. The link's on my profile. The title of the outtake is Divided Loyalties, and it's in Ginny's POV and rated PG.


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